Hey, who out there caught the fab doco ‘Mambo: Art Irritates Life’ on ABC-TV last night?

Mambo of course is an iconic Australian brand and known for its t-shirts, shorts etc, designed by Mental As Anything’s Reg Mombassa and a bunch of other great and crazy artists. One of the cool things about the doco was how it illuminated the label’s many connections to the Sydney music scene; how Mambo founder Dare Jennings was also the founder/owner of the legendary Pitt St store Phantom Records, and the Phantom Records label, which famously released the first records by the Sunnyboys, Hoodoo Gurus, Machinations and more. And it looked like the Mambo staff early on at least comprised of the who’s who of the music scene.  The film went beyond this and featured some other great Sydney independent sounds from the ‘80s, including the Eastern Dark’s brilliant ‘Johnny & Dee Dee’, which played out over the credits.

If you missed it last night you can catch it on iView here - https://iview.abc.net.au/programs/mambo-art-irritates-life/AC1425H001S00 . (It’s available until 10:30pm on 22 Nov 2016.)

Here’s a few Mambo-related musical memories for ya!

Mental As anything ‘Business & Pleasure’ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zLVm529C1_w

Radio Birdman ‘Aloha Steve & Danno’ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KmH0OeDLGEE

Sunnyboys ‘What You Need’ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rlujJRJ8c7Q&index=3&list=PLq_9KEj-q1Z6Io2LMhLdAFhHQLJdxns02

Le Hoodoo Gurus ‘Leilani’ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bUWMWBbEhJA

The Clouds ‘Say It’ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jORe3tvS-DY

The Eastern Dark ‘Johnny & Dee’ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bUWMWBbEhJA